Improvement in corn-harvesters



G; W. S.. BELL.

Corn Harvester# No. 94,549. Patented Sept.' 7, 1869.

N. PETERS, PHnToJJYNoMAPMw;WASHINGTGM D C,

dilated mes @anni depth.

G. S. BELL, OF '.LALLULA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO lllMSELlf AND H. C. BELL, OF SAME PLACE.

Letters Parent No. 94,549, dated September T, 1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern Be it known that I', G.`\V. BELL, ofTallula, in

the count)v of Menard, and ,,State of NIllnOiS, have inl vented a newand improvedCorn-Harvester; and I .do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which'- Figure 1 is a top or plan view of my improved cornharvester.

Figure 2 is a side view ofthe same.

Figure 3 is a detail vertical lcross-section of the same, taken through tlie line x a'. fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention has for its object to furnish an iniproved corn-harvester, which shall be so constructed and arranged to cut thc corn two rows at a time, and deposit itinl bundles upon the'groundganrrwhich shall be simple in construction, effective in operation, and easily guided when at work; and

It consists in the construction and combination ofl the various parts, as hereinafter more fully described. A are the drive-wheels, theijournals of each ot' which revolve in bearings in the two parallel bars,

which form the sides of the ,frame Upon the inner side of each of the wheels fA is formed, or to it is attached a gear-wheel, C, which is provided with two sets of gear-wheels, one square and the other bevelled, or with a single set of bevel teeth, as may be desired.

Into the teeth ofthe gear-wheels C mesh the teeth of the gear-wheels D, attached to the outer ends of the short horizontal shaft- E,'which revolve in bearings attached tothe under sideotthe front ,cross-bar ofthe traine B.

To each ofthe shafts E are attached two small` bevel-gear wheels F, into the teeth of which mesh the teeth of the small bevel-gear wheels G, att-ached to the lower ends ot" the short vertical 'shafts H, which pass up through the front cross-bar of the frame B,-

and to the upper ends of which are attached the midv die Vparts of the cutters 1, which, as the shafts H revolve, cut o'the corn-stalks against the inclined edge of the plate J, attached to the upper side Vof the front cross-bar offthe frame B.

K are guides, attached .to the front cross-bar of the frame B, which, as the machine is drawn forward, guide the corn-stalks into proper position to be operated upon by the cutters or knives I.

'L are gear-wheels, the teeth of which. mesh into the teeth of the gear-wheels (l, and which are attached to the shafts M.

The shafts M are set at au angle of about fortyrfive degrees, (450,) and work in bearings in the frames N, attached to the side bars ofthe frame B.

project-iup,r downward utan angle of about flirty-five degrees, (450,) which inclination, in connection with the inclination ofthe pulleys O and l, causes thearms 01 fingers lt to project down nearly vertically when moving ibrward along the outer sides of the frames N, and to project nearly horizontally when moving:r back over the frame so as to guide the corn to the cutters, and after being cut,bacl\'vto the platform upon;

'which it falls, and from which it is dropped to thc ground in a bundle.

S are two shafts, the c'ndsof which work in hearings in the front and rear cross-bars ot' the frame B.

To the shafts S are attached equal-armed crossbars T, upon which the cut corn rests. The shaftsS and cross-bars T are so arrange-d as to occupy the entire space between the side and end bars ofthe frameI B.

U are downwardly-inclim'd guard-arma'the outer4 ends of which are attached to thc frames N, and the inner ends of which project to, or nearly to, the shafts S, t0 guide the corn-stalks as they fall upon :the platform, so that they may rest onlyy upon the inner ends of the cross-arms T.

To the rear ends of the shafts S are attachedsmall cranks V, which are connected by a counecting-rod W, the ends of which are pivoted to the said cranks,-

to cansethe said cranks to move together.

X is a bent lever, which is pivoted at its angle to the frame Y, and its forward arm passes through a hole in the centre of the connecting-bar \V, togive motion to said bar, and through it and the cranks T, to ,tilt the platform S T, to drop the bundle of corn-stalks to the ground.

The end of the forward :u'm of the bent leverXalso passes through a horizontal slot in the keeper or bar Z, attached to the rear cross-bar of the frame B, to Cause the said level' to 'move horizontally when operating the connecting-bar W, and to support the said lever X, when servingas a pivot to the said bar W.

To the end of the other arm ofthe bent lever X is pivoted'the forward end ofthe connecting-bar A', the rear end of which-is pivcted to the lever B. The lower end 'of the lever B' is pivoted to the frame Y, and its upper end extends up int-o such a posit-ion that it may be conveniently reached 'and yoperated by the driver standing upon the plat-forni attached to the frame Y.

The upper end of the lever B. passes up through a.

tcurved guide-frame, C', attached to l,the frame Y, and is providedwith a spring-catch, D, which catches in notches formed in the ends ofthe guide-frame C', to hold the lever B securely in either position.

Thel frarne Y is made narrower than the frame B, (l prefer to make it triangular-Q toj give space for the horses at each side of said fra-ine Y. The forward end ot' the frame- Y is securely attached to the rear end of i the trame B, and to its rear end is securely attached the cross-frame l'l, the connect-ion beingl strengthened by braces 1f", as shown in iigs. l and 2,

To the side. posts ot the cross-trame lil' are hinged vert-ical posts (l, to the lower ends of lwhich are pivoted Sina-ll wheels ll', upon which the rear end of' the machine rests.

To the upper ends ofthe posts G are attached sin- :gie-aruu-d cross-heads l', project-ing,r forward, and the Y ends of which are connected by a cross-bar, J', having a handle, li', attached to its middle part, so that the machine an be convenientlyY guided by turniner the posts G upon their pivoting-points.

By this arrangement, a movement ot' lthe free end of the lever B ineither direction will give a lia-li' revoi. 'lhe armed belts or chains Q R, connected with and driven. from the drive-wheels A, by suitable gearing,in combination with the cutting-device' and tilting .plattorm, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth. f

2. The rotating knives I, connected with and driven from the drive-Wheels A, by suitable gearing, in combination with the pointed or inclined guides K, armed belts or cha-ins Q R, and tilting platform S T, substantiall)v as herein shown and described, andrior the purpose set forth.

The pivoted armed shafts S T, in' combination with the cutting-device I J K and endless armed belts or chains Q fl, substantially as herein shown and described, for the purpose of holding the cut corn-stalks and dropping theinjn bundles upon the ground.

4. The combination ofthe cranks V, slotted bar Z, connecting-bar -\V, bent'flever X,conncctingbar A', and lever B', with each other and with the a'n'ied shafts S T, substantially as herein' shown and described, for the purposeot' holding and revolving,r the armed upon the ground.

5. The cotnbinatioirof the pivoted posts G', wheels H,'crossheads l', and connecting-bar J', with each other and with the llames E Y, substantially as herein shown and described, and for the purpose set forth. (lr. W. S. BELL.

Witnesses:

R. A. GAUx'r, W. S. Biani..

shafts S T, to hohl and drop the bundles of stalks 

